Posts Tagged ‘Batteries’

Alternative fuels versus batteries

August 17th, 2010 by mactun | Comments Off | Filed in Hybrid Car
Energy independence? Could alternative fuels, such as natural gas, provide an interim solution to foreign oil independence as more long term alternative fuels and powertrains, such as hybrids and plug-in vehicles, are developed.

Could it end foreign oil dependence in 10 years? Filling ‘er up with natural gas, really? Over the years I’ve attacked alternative fuels as a distraction from reality. Biofuels, natural gas and hydrogen, I’ve argued, were just excuses and delay tactics against the inevitability of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure battery-powered vehicles. In recent years, however, I’ve softened ...

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Fuel cells versus batteries: We need them both

July 15th, 2010 by mactun | Comments Off | Filed in Hybrid Car
Fuel cell cars and battery-powered vehicles might just be two peas of the same pod, and each might be equally important.

Fuel cells and batteries will electrify the future The realities of oil dependence Later this year, and through the next few years, a number of plug-in vehicles will finally be offered for sale. For many this means that the battery-powered car is the indisputable technology of the future, and that fuel cell vehicles should finally be put ...

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EcoMotor: Bigger than lithium batteries?

July 14th, 2010 by mactun | Comments Off | Filed in Hybrid Car
While lithium batteries are the big buzz today, it might just be the simple old engine that can change everything about the auto industry today.

At least in the interim Can we do better What if today’s autos could be made 50 percent more fuel efficient without adding any costs? Might that not be the biggest thing to hit the auto industry in many decades? Bigger than NiMH? Bigger than lithium? Bigger than any battery? A simple new engine offers just such a ...

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35 years for lithium-air batteries to mature

July 12th, 2010 by mactun | Comments Off | Filed in Hybrid Car
Lithium air batteries appear on track to eventually replace lithium-ion batteries, but it will take innovations and decades to fully mature.

Innovations and decades to mature The lithium-ion replacement Battery Project 500 is an IBM research project focused on developing next generation battery technologies that can achieve 500 miles per charge with a particular focus on lithium-air batteries. Unfortunately, while lithium-air is showing great promise, the researchers caution that it has taken 35 years of development for lithium-ion battery ...

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